Versailles, IN—DNR’s Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology (DHPA) has awarded 15 federal grants for historic preservation and archaeology in Indiana communities. The grants, totaling more than $454,000, provide a match of more than $524,000 in local and private funds, for a total projected investment of $978,441.
The funds come from the National Park Service, a part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which distributes federal funds to the states through the Historic Preservation Fund Program. Since 1974, the state has awarded more than $18 million to Indiana communities through this program.
DHPA helps strengthen Indiana’s historical and cultural heritage through annual federal grants it administers to local communities and not-for-profit groups that these organizations put toward preservation projects.
Grants awarded are:
Evansville: The City of Evansville will receive a $9,097 matching grant to reassess the known historic resources in the Evansville Downtown Historic District and Multiple Resource Area (MRA). Both areas have a total of about 152 contributing resources. Some properties were not considered historic at the time the historic district and MRA were created, so identifying and assessing resources from 1944-1968 is also necessary. The goal is to update the 25-year-old data on historic and cultural resources in Evansville’s downtown. The result would be to convert Downtown Evansville’s MRA into a Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) in order to meet current National Register documentation standards.
Evansville: The City of Evansville will also receive a $5,213 matching grant to assist with a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places of the Hebron Meadows Historic District. The development represents a mid-century neighborhood and will be listed under the new MPDF on Post-War Housing. The subdivision was the product of Wilbur Harrell and realtor-builder Isabella Sullivan. The neighborhood became home to many upper-middle-class Jewish residents in the 1950s and 1960s, and many of them coordinated with leading architects in Evansville. The nomination, in addition to being Evansville’s first mid-century district, will also explore the role Sullivan played as one of the most active women in real estate at the time, as well as the socioeconomic context of the neighborhood as it relates to the Jewish community. The district will include approximately 100 contributing properties. For more information on both Evansville grants, contact Jim Toner at 812-435-6030.
Fort Wayne: The City of Fort Wayne will receive a $3,405 matching grant to assist with a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places of the Forest Park-Driving Park Historic District. It is a streetcar suburban plat that was initiated in 1906 and extended in 1913 by the plat for Driving Park. The 1910 and 1913 additions conformed to the City Beautiful recommendation of the Robinson and Kessler plans for Fort Wayne. Both Forest Park and Driving Park were developments undertaken by Louis Cudes, who developed several other Fort Wayne neighborhoods now listed in the National Register. Houses are primarily in the American Foursquare, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival styles, with a few Gabled Ells and Gable Front examples. This a large district and will include approximately 485 contributing properties.
Fort Wayne: The City of Fort Wayne will receive a $5,965 matching grant to assist with a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places of the Harrison Hill Historic District. Platted in 1915, Harrison Hill is a planned residential development by Frank Hilgeman and Albert Shaaf. The layout features a broad, landscaped boulevard; wide, curving streets designed for motor traffic; playground and park areas; paved streets and sidewalks; and both brick and iron entry markers. There is a wide variety of early 20th century styles from modest bungalows to large Colonial and Tudor Revival style homes on the boulevard. The district will include approximately 220 contributing properties. The project also includes the design and printing of a brochure on the Lakeside Historic District. The brochure will follow the design of the city’s series of publications about it’s National Register Historic Districts and will contain a history of the district, local history and architecture, a locator map, and a focus on approximately 45 featured properties. For more information on both Fort Wayne grants, contact Don Orban at 260-427-2160.
Henry County: Ball State University will receive a $49,999 grant to conduct an archaeological survey of Summit Lake State Park. The park is owned by the DNR and consists of 2,680 acres, including the 800-acre Summit Lake and the 120-acre Zeigler Woods Nature Preserve. The project will conduct a Phase Ia investigation of unsurveyed areas, including a geophysical survey of two possible mounds and a shovel test pit survey of approximately 30 acres surrounding each mound (a total of about 60 acres), which is approximately 2.2% of the SLSP. The objective is to document the prehistoric and historic cultural resources, to assist the park and preserve with future resource management planning, and determine potential eligibility for the National Register.
Henry County: Ball State University will receive a $49,999 grant to conduct the second phase of an archaeological survey of the Wilbur Wright Fish & Wildlife Area, which consists of 1,070 acres of Blue River Valley floodplains and associated uplands and is currently used as a fishing and hunting area. It is also the former site of the New Castle State Hospital and encompasses several major prehistoric sites, which have been investigated extensively in the past. However, portions of the Wilbur Wright FWA remain unsurveyed. This project will conduct a Phase Ia shovel test pit survey of about 52 acres of fallow agricultural land west of the Big Blue River. In 2018 about 8 acres of the field was surveyed, and artifacts recovered are indicative of sustained habitation in the area. The Fiscal Year 2019 project will complete the investigation of the area, which will help define the true nature and location of the reported site and determine potential eligibility for the National Register. For more information on both Henry County grants, contact Chris Thompson at 765-285-5328.
Indianapolis: The McGowan Hall Knights of Columbus will receive $38,790 to replace the roof of McGowan Hall, which was built in 1922. The hall has served many community functions and purposes throughout its history, such as USO dances during World War II, theater and music performances, community meetings and presentations, social service and support group meetings, fundraiser events, and private rental use. The project will stabilize the worst portions of the roof: the sections over the Grand Hall mezzanine and the Grand Hall entry vestibule. For more information, contact Robert Newport at 317-476-5793.
Jeffersonville: The LifeSpring Health Systems organization will receive $29,622 to rehabilitate the windows of the ca. 1870 Sarkisian House, which is used as a group home for men with mental health or substance use disorders. The building is a gabled Italianate style home with tall, narrow windows, several of which have decorative arched hoods on the front elevation. The project will rehabilitate 41 windows and custom build eight storm windows for the archtop. For more information, contact Elizabeth Stafford at 812-206-1361.
Lafayette: Trinity United Methodist Church will receive a $50,000 grant to stabilize and rehabilitate the exterior masonry of the 1872 building. Mortar joint erosion has threatened the stability of brick units. In addition to repointing the masonry, some brick units that are missing or damaged will need to be replaced. The church has undertaken masonry rehabilitation on the east, south, and west elevations. The HPF grant will assist specifically with the north elevation, where water infiltration is creating some damage to the interior of the building. For more information, contact Stephen Ash at 765-427-7007.
Newburgh: The Town of Newburgh will receive a $34,025 grant to rehabilitate Preservation Hall, formerly known as Old Newburgh Presbyterian Church, built in 1851. The hall currently houses the Newburgh Museum and is used by Historic Newburgh, Inc., the Newburgh Community Theater, and is available for event rental by other organizations or individuals. The town has a conditions assessment and rehabilitation plan for the building. The scope of the grant includes foundation, masonry, woodwork, and HVAC rehabilitation and repair. For more information, contact Christy Powell at 812-853-1720.
Peru: The Miami Nation of Indians will receive a $50,000 grant to assist in replacing the roof of the former Peru High School’s gymnasium, Tig Arena, which now serves as the Miami Nation’s headquarters. Roof leaks in the gymnasium wing threaten the structure and severe leaks where the gym roof meets the classroom building allow water into the lower level of the classroom wing where the tribe maintains its archives. By replacing the roof and halting the water infiltration, the tribe can begin to pursue other interior repairs that are needed to allow the tribe to continue to operate its food bank, emergency shelter, and tribal operations, and to finish it’s Native American museum and records archive. For more information, contact Keith Layman at 260-410-5530.
Plymouth: The Marshall County Commissioners will receive $25,000 to produce an engineering study and drawings for the Marshall County Courthouse. The 1872 courthouse was designed by Chicago architect Gordon Randal and features a limestone base, brick walls, and a hipped roof with a central tower. The project will provide an overall building assessment to include masonry, windows, and doors, and to provide specific plans for the restoration of the tower. The assessment will also examine the options for implementing a fire suppression system. For more information, contact Mike Delp at 574-930-4552.
Ripley County: Ball State University will receive a grant of $49,999 to continue a Phase Ia survey of approximately 80 acres around historic homestead sites identified within Versailles State Park. A previous survey recorded 49 sites, and this project will attempt to verify the location of 21 more sites. Along with their associated historical records, these sites tell the story of the early planned settlement as well as early statehood. This targeted archaeological survey will help uncover the remains of daily home life at these sites. The park would like to use the information to develop more engaging interpretation around these resources, create a series of significance statements and primary interpretive themes, and determine potential eligibility for the National Register. For more information, contact Chris Thompson at 765-285-5328.
Rensselaer: The Jasper-Newton Foundation will receive a $50,000 grant to rehabilitate 63 historic windows, replace one double-hung window, and preserve all the window frame units in the Rensselaer Carnegie Library. The building was built in 1904 and opened in 1905. The library is now known as the Carnegie Center and provides gallery space for artists of all ages, as well as community meeting space for training, events, and networking opportunities. For more information, contact Brienne Hooker, Jasper-Newton Foundation, at 219-866-2228.
Saint Mary of the Woods: Saint Mary of the Woods College will receive a $28,200 grant to assist with rehabilitation of the main entrance gate for the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and Sisters of Providence campuses. The college was founded in 1840 as an academy for the education of women. The main entrance gate was built in 1918 and is one of the early landscape features in a plan that expanded and enhanced the campus. It’s a prominent and highly recognizable landmark made of brick and limestone, with walls that curve inward toward the metal picket-style pair of gates. For more information, contact Susan Dolle at 812-535-5275.
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